Lance is 5!

We hosted Lance's birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese this year with a Star Wars theme. The birthday boy was a little leary of the mascot (to say the least), so his friends enjoyed the party while Lance and Trent waited in the car... for 2 hours! Lance (and Trent and Becca) recovered from the Chuck E. Cheese experience and we celebrated his turning 5 two days later on his birthday! Happy Birthday Lance! We love you!

Don't smile

I wanted to take a picture of Bryce this morning to send to Trent showing Trent how swollen Bryce's face was from a mosquito bite he obtained last night at soccer skills. The following are the result of the "don't smile" instruction that I gave him...

Lance had to join in...

And Manning too...

Who knew not smiling was so much fun??

A new hair pretty

First time to wear the new hair pretty and I thought it was just too cha-cha for words!

Is it Lance??

Lance taking his new costume for a spin...
He's a natural, isn't he?? :o)

Let it begin!

Notre Dame football season is upon us! Bring it on!!

They Won the Tournament

I should also post a picture of Bryce with his soccer team who won the tournament they played in this weekend! This was their first tournament to play in together... setting the standards a little high. These boys played very well. I'm so proud of all of them. Needless to say, those of you who know Bryce, know he is (slightly) competitive and VERY excited to have won. Go Odyssey!

It's Official

Today is the first day of all day school for Bryce. It's been a bitter-sweet day for me. It seems I've been looking forward to this for a long time but now that it's here, I'm a little sad. He will love it and do very well in school but I'm sad he'll be in school all day from now on. On a different note, he lost his other top front tooth on Friday at lunch so he officially looks like a 1st grader!
Lance and Manning had to join in the picture and then we all walked Bryce to first grade!

Busy Summer!

We've had a busy summer and I figured it was time for me to finally update the blog. Here goes.


Manning has been moved in to a big girl bed and here is Bryce helping her test it out.
In June, Manning and I made a quick trip to Midland to celebrate my cousin Kaitlin's 21st birthday with her and the family... Manning had a lot of fun swimming with Danielle and Kaitlin.

We went to a fun playhouse at the beginning of the summer for playgroup.

Mom and I went on an Alaskan Cruise at the beginning of July in honor of her impending 60th birthday. Trent was very nice to stay home with the kids and Phyllis was AWESOME to come and help. Here we are at Butchart Gardens in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

On our Skagway Extravaganza!

In Juneau on our Whale Watching trip.

We all went out to Midland in July to honor my Aunt Ruth and Uncle Kent's 50th wedding anniversary. The kids enjoyed swimming all week and seeing cousins from around the country.

When we got back from Midland, Bryce went to a GT camp called Summer Summit where he learned all about insects. We got to do an insect collection. Yay! Here he is with his group project... he was pretty excited about all that they did.

The kids have also discovered Star Wars: A New Hope this summer which inspired Bryce to build space ships with legos... very cool.

He also officially looks like a 1st grader with the loss of a front tooth up top!

My boys with their faux hawks....

We took Manning to her first baseball game at the end of July. She wasn't all that excited about it... may wait another couple years to take her back.

Mom and Manning...

Mom and Lance

Trent and I all dressed up to go out for my birthday. :o)

We also took the boys to their first MLS game in August. Self portrait....

Stuart Holden and Brian Ching playing for Houston Dynamo... the boys were pretty excited to see them play.

FC Dallas squad...

We're ready for the game to start!

Enjoying a ball park dinner...

The boys did a soccer camp this past week and they were put on team Ireland. On Thursday they were challenged to come dressed with Ireland flags and green hair, etc. Bryce gave it a go... Manning had to get in on the Ireland flags too. It was fun. :o)

Now it's almost time for school to start again! :o( It's been a great summer. We'll see how first grade goes... and Lance is in school 4 days a week this year. Manning will be staying home with me until next year.

How time does fly!

Oh my. Our baby, Bryce, graduated from Kindergarten today. I know, it seems silly to have a graduation for 5 & 6 year olds, but they were cute. And the teachers tried (and succeeded on this Mom) to make us cry about our babies getting older. It was a great performance and Trent and I are so proud of Bryce. He did spectacularly in his class this year and we know he'll do well with whatever he tries. He's a good boy and a great son! We love you Bryce.